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Respighi - Complete Songs for voice and piano vol. 2

Respighi

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OTTORINO RESPIGHI His Art Songs by Potito Pedarra The subject of Ottorino Respighis (Bologna, 1879 - Rome, 1936) vocal chamber music, "less ambitious yet more genuine and varied" (S. Martinotti) than the operatic one, has not yet been studied systematically, not even by the scholars and musicologists who have published many top-level essays on his music. Respighis art song production takes place in a "controversial moment of the history of Italy during the first thirty years of our century": in those years this musical form , so popular especially in Germany, in Italy is "suffocated by Operas spreading" (Elio Battaglia). It is true that the German Lied and the Italian song are two musical forms of completely different type.
While in Austria Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903) devoted himself almost exclusively to Lied composing, in Italy the canzone was still considered as a secondary chamber music form, just an entertainment, mere occasional music in a few words. Here, on the "crisis, nearly total, of the Italian Lied", Ottorino Respighis experience was grafted, the musician being one of the most prolific composers of his generation. Until then this form was considered an almost exclusive prerogative of Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846-1916), who, "in spite of his not so far-sighted intentions", still seems to be "the most genuine song-writer in Italy, for, at least from a historical point of view, he does not cover himself with any intellectual cloth, as his contemporaries do" (Elio Battaglia). The lirica (song) represents for Respighi "a sort of a composers intimate journal" (A. Cant). Elsa Olivieri Sangiacomo (1894 - 1996), the composers wife and biographer, writes: One who knows Respighis songs can say he knows very much of him, since they represent the world where he seeks shelter and in everyday life entrusts his hearts hidden secrets, when he lets his soul sing freely. An escape, as one could say nowadays, that allows him the expression of a state of mind, a feeling, a sensation, in only a few pages of music; for a short time, it keeps him away from the difficult tasks of full scores, where he passionately looks for his own musical path. It is so interesting to see how, on the one hand, in order to reach his first thorough symphonic piece, Fontane di Roma (1916), it took him fifteen years (years of the hardest work, research, study in all various fields of culture and in all different spiritual tendencies); on the other hand, in his songs (see Nebbie, 1906), he immediately achieved a perfect form and an absolutely personal language .
The art song represents the first intimate core of his creative work, or "the Ariadnes thread to follow and understand the varied and large study on the European late Romantic and early Twentieth century culture that Respighi did during his slow yet precise artistic training"(S. Martinotti). A kind of reconnaissance he also made in the literary field, where "one could clearly note the disquieting and ardent influence of either the late German Lied (certainly known during Respighis peregrinations throughout Europe) or the new French chanson.". It is demonstrated by the choice of texts of the songs included in this first CD: from an occasional encounter with the poetry of Ada Negri (1870-1945) to the great European classical tradition represented by Percy Bysshe Shelly (1792-1822), Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885) and Sully Prudhomme (1839 - 1907, from the decadent crepuscular Carlo Zangarini (1874-1943), Enrico Panzacchi (1840 - 1904), Arturo Graf (1848 - 1913), to the French symbolism in Jean Moras (1856 - 1910), from the popular traditional song to the great masters of the Italian "Decadence", Gabriele DAnnunzio (1863 - 1938) e Antonio Fogazzaro (1842 - 1911). One may misunderstand the presence of so many contemporary Italian poets as a kind of provincial attitude in Respighi as a song-writer. Yet "the choice of those poems does not necessary require a less challenging task". Respighis art song production confirms what Fedele dAmico demonstrates: the relation between Respighi and the XIX century " not only sounds as a natural continuation, a father to son heritage, but also keep on growing from the first apprentice works until the very end, being able to co-exist with tendencies that would contradict them": the use of ancient modes, for example, but also the art of free transcription, and, above all, "the new orchestral sense, (...) absorbed from the lessons with Rimskij-Korsakov". Lagrime and Storia breve, respectively from 1896 and 1904, were published by Bongiovanni (Bologna) in 1982, with Lultima ebbrezza, Tanto bella, Notturno, Luce, to be found in our first volume . Scherzo, Nevicata and Nebbie (with no doubt Respighis most famous song), Bongiovanni, were probably composed in 1906: the first one for Maria Pedrazzi, while the last two, dedicated to mezzo Rosina Zacchi Pedrazzi, were first performed by herself in Bologna that same year. The two collections Sei Melodie and Sei Liriche (I serie), Bongiovanni, were both born in 1909: Chiarina Fino Savio, the singer who contributed the most in the creation of the composers major vocal works of those years (Aretusa in 1911, the 2nd collection of Sei Liriche in 1912, Il Tramonto in 1914) was their first interpreter in a concert in Bologna at the prestigious ancient hall of the Accademia Filarmonica, on April the 23rd, 1912. Published by Ricordi in 1911, E se un giorno tornasse..., is a dramatic recitativo, in a kind of modern style without measures, again for Fino Savio. The Quattro rispetti toscani, Bongiovanni, 1915, sprang from the occasional encounter with the humour and the "popular" sense of Arturo Birgas verses. Miranda, 1902, is still an unpublished manuscript, as well as Canzone sarda and Le funtanelle (1928 - 1930).

After obtaining a Diploma in Opera at the University of Cape Town, Andrea Catzel came into contact with Teresa Berganza who arranged master classes for her with her own teacher, Lola R. Aragon and subsequently Isabel Penagos, in Madrid. After her return to South Africa, Andrea Catzel joined Cape Town Opera in 1986 as a principal soprano. Her repertoire includes Mimi (La Bohme), Eva (Die Meistersinger), Agathe (Der Freischutz), Ariadne (Ariadne auf Nakos), Marschallein (Der Rosenkavalier), Fiordiligi (Cosi fan Tutte), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Countess (Marriage af Figaro), Senta (Der Fliegende Hollnder). She has twice won the prestigious Nederburg Opera Award for outstanding performances of Desdemana (Otello), and Elsa (Lohengrin). Andrea Catzel is also very much in demand as a concert artist. Her repertoire includes Verdi Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Brittens War Requiem, Rossini Stabat Mater and Beethoven 9th. She has had particular success with her interpretation of R. Strauss Vier Letze Lieder. She records regularly for radio and t.v. and has also recorded 2 solo cds for Clarimont G.S.E. label, one with orchestra and one with piano accompaniment. Since moving to Germany in 1991, Andrea Catzel performs all over Europe and is at present engaged as principal soprano at Stadteater Giessen

In spite of his young age, Italian tenor Leonardo de Lisi has already achieved an international reputation. His repertoire includes the roles of Orfeo (Monteverdis LOrfeo), Ulisse (Il ritorno di Ulisse in Patria), Bajazet (Tamerlano), Idomeneo, Alessandro (Il Re Pastore), Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Nemorino (LElisir dAmore), Alfredo (La Traviata), Tom Rakewell (The Rakes Progress), Der Steuermann (Der fliegende Hollnder), Seemann (Tristan und Isolde), Scaramuccio (Ariadne auf Naxos), Tenore Italiano (Capriccio), Prunier (La Rondine), roles he performed with great success throughout Europe. He has also sung Tenor solos under Michel Plasson, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Tamas Vasary, Peter Maag, Fabio Luisi, Yoav Talmi. A very fine recitalist he often performs for the most prestigious concert series throughout Europe and the United States. He won some of the major Singing Contests: in 1986 the First Prize at the National Singing Competition "Citt di Conegliano Veneto", in 1987 the Grand Prix Ravel in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Second Prize at the Stuttgart Hugo Wolf Competition, in 1989 the Nantes Opera Contest, the Grand Prix Faur in Paris as well as the Second Prize at the London Walther Gruner Competition. In 1994 he was awarded the First Prize (Lied Category) at the 40th I.V.C. Competition s-Hertogenbosch, Holland. As a result, soprano Elly Ameling invited him to sing with her during her Farewell Concert at the Big Hall of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Leonardo de Lisis major CD recordings include Schubert Songs with guitar, Song cycles by Castelnuovo Tedesco, Beethovens Folk Songs for voice and Trio. He also recorded for all the major European Radio Companies (RAI, Sddeutscher Rundfunk, Hessischer Rundfunk, Radio France, ORF, BBC, Dutch Radio, Hungarian State Radio, etc.). He studied English and French Literature at the Padua University and Musicology at the Bologna University. He also graduated with honours and special distinction prize from the Padua Conservatory of Music and the Parma Music Academy. He attended masterclasses under Grard Souzay, Ileana Cotrubas, Dalton Baldwin, R Koster, Lorraine Nubar, and currently studies voice with tenor Gastone Limarilli.